The remaining eight consisted of two wives and six children of Australian military personnel who died from accidents or sickness, they said. The remains handed over at Subang military air base had been interred for decades at Terendak Military Cemetery in Malaysia. Malaysian officials said 21 of the deceased were Australian soldiers killed in Vietnam and three others died in the fight against communist insurgents in Malaysia. Malaysia soldiers carried coffins draped with Australia flags to the tarmac, where Australian troops carried them aboard two Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft. Australia deployed more than 60,000 military personnel to the Vietnam conflict between 1962 and 1973, of whom 521 were killed.

Source: ABC News May 31, 2016 03:49 UTC